


Still One Place to Go

by romanticizedtaboos



Series: Whump Klaus [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Drug Addiction, Child Abuse, Drug Addiction, Flashbacks, Fuck Reginald Hargreeves, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Grace was a child bride :(, Hurt/Comfort, Im tired, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Klaus is a vet, M/M, No Incest, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, acab tho, allison has a different last name, allison is luthers fiance, ben is a hallucination, ben isnt related, ben was klaus’ best friend, but for iraq not vietnam, dave is a cop, five is 15, hes dead :(, luther is not mean, neither is allison, no beta we die like ben, patch and diego are just friends, so is Diego, takes place 2019, they broke up already, tw, whump klaus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25300936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticizedtaboos/pseuds/romanticizedtaboos
Summary: Diego couldn’t be shocked when he saw Diaz bring in Klaus again. He loved his brother, but it wasn’t like he should be surprised. This hadn’t been the first time and there was no way it was gonna be the last with the way Klaus was. However, Diego was surprised to find out what he’d been brought in for.~~No powers AU where Klaus is a veteran from Iraq who got addicted to drugs after he was honourably discharged. Dave is a cop who works with Diego. Stuff happens and Dave and Klaus fall in love and Klaus gets his shit together.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves/Klaus Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Everyone, Klaus Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves/Allison Hargreeves
Series: Whump Klaus [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789648
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	Still One Place to Go

**Author's Note:**

> some info:  
> -ben and klaus became best friends in basic training  
> -they were deployed in 2008 and ben was KIA in 2010  
> -klaus was discharged in 2010  
> -he hallucinates ben as a coping mechanism  
> -this takes place in 2019  
> -klaus has been homeless since 2012 when he left home because of his drug habit
> 
> (i dont have ptsd so this may be misinformed when it comes to the flashback scene. this is written for fun so go easy on me but i appreciate any feedback :))

Diego couldn’t be shocked when he saw Diaz bring in Klaus again. He loved his brother, but it wasn’t like he should be surprised. This hadn’t been the first time and there was no way it was gonna be the last with the way Klaus was. However, Diego was surprised to find out what he’d been brought in for. 

”Really Klaus? Solicitation! You’re a hooker now, too?” Klaus just sat in front of him and rolled his eyes. ”What? Why’re you rolling your fucking eyes right now?”

”Just surprised to find out this is the first you’ve heard of it, to be honest. It’s not exactly a secret, mon frère.” He laughed and Diego had half a mind to smack some sense into him. How could he be so, so flippant about this? How long has he been whoring himself out for? How did Diego not know?

”Jesus Klaus! Okay, whatever, I’m done with this right now. I can get you outta this but next time you’re in a jail cell, got it?”

”Yeah Mom, I got it.”

”Im gonna find someone to take you to mine right now. Don’t fucking move, I know you know how to get out of those cuffs.” Klaus shrugged and Diego turned away to find someone getting off work with a car. 

He went into the locker room to find Katz changing back into his civies. ”Hey Katz.” The man turned around and smiled at Diego. He was probably the nicest guy around here, he wouldn’t mind doing him a favour. At least he hoped. If he leaves Klaus too long he’ll be gone by the time he gets back. 

”Hey Hargreeves. What’s up?”

”Um, are you going home right now?”

”Uh yeah. Why?”

”Look, I really hate to ask you this but do you think you could do me a favour? It’s a big one and it’s perfectly okay if you can’t.” Diego hoped his eyes conveyed how badly he needed Katz to say yes. 

”Uh… what is it?”

Yes. ”My brother got picked up and I really need someone to drive him back to mine and stay with him until I get off. He’s kind of a flight risk, and I’d bet 100 bucks he hasn’t eaten in at least a week and doesn’t have an actual place to stay so I don’t really wanna let him go back out right now.” Diego wasn’t sure how Klaus had survived this long on his own. It was November and he still didn’t even have a proper winter coat. How he hadn’t gotten hypothermia and froze on the streets by now was a complete mystery. 

”What time do you get off?”

”8.” 

”So only three hours?”

”Yep.”

”Okay, sure.”

Yes yes yes! Diego nearly kissed him at that. He hated how he had to get a babysitter for his brother but it was either that or risk having him freeze to death on a bench so it was better than the latter. ”Thank you so so much.”

”It’s no problem, I wasn’t doing anything anyways.” 

”Still. It’s a huge deal for me so thank you. Just so you know, he can be a lot but he’s fine for the most part, just don’t touch him.”

”Why not?”

”Just don’t.”

”Okay.” Katz looked puzzled of course, but Diego wasn’t gonna go into how if people touch Klaus without permission they’ll probably get a fist to the face so it was easier to keep him confused. Better than finding out the hard way. He has a mean left hook. 

Diego led Katz to his desk where Klaus was sat, handcuffed to a chair, picking at a loose string on his leggings. He looked like shit of course. The same clothes he’d probably been wearing for weeks, smudged makeup that’d been applied over older smudged makeup, bruises littering his face and down the rest of his body. He smelled like trash, cigarettes and sex unsurprisingly. He had fresh track marks on his arms and on his hands. Old ones still scattered across his pale skin among various other scars, some intentional and some not. 

Katz took an uncomfortably long look at Klaus and didn’t try and hide his own discomfort. Diego internally winced for his brother but Klaus of course seemed unbothered by Katz’s gaze. He wasn’t the first person to look at Klaus like that, he supposed. 

”This is Klaus, Klaus this is Katz-”

”You can call me Dave, ” Katz said with a genuine (?) smile. Klaus at least took it for one and smiled right back, though his looked plastered onto his face with super glue against his will. It’s the thought that counts?

”Yes, and Dave will be taking you back to mine and staying with you till I get off.”

”What the hell, Diego! I don’t need a babysitter - no offence Dave, you seem real nice.” He said the last bit with a wink and Katz flushed red. 

”I beg to differ, ” Diego turned toward Katz, ” Make sure he doesn’t steal your wallet.” Klaus gasped and threw his hand over his heart in mock offence. 

”Diego how dare you! I would never do such a thing!” He winked at Katz before standing up. He handed over the cuffs he’d been left in to Diego with a smirk. Katz just watched the display with an awkward expression. 

”Whatever, I gotta get back to work. If he steals your shit - or mine, call me. And thanks again, it really means a lot.”

Katz smiled, ”It’s all good, I’m sure me and my wallet will be fine.”

Diego looked at Klaus, ”And you,” he pointed, “I’ll be off in 3 hours so I’d really appreciate it if you’d just wait for me and not break my door again.”

”To be fair, you did lock me inside.”

”Yeah, yeah, get outta here.”

Dave led Klaus out of the bullpen and through the front door. All Diego could hope was that Klaus didn’t traumatize Katz too bad. And not break his door. Again. 

Klaus felt like a child as he walked beside Dave to his car. He really didn’t need a babysitter despite what Diego thought of him. So what, he broke down a door once, was that really even his fault? It was Diego who locked him in there, what did he expect was gonna happen? He always hated small spaces. 

Klaus climbed into the passenger seat of Dave’s black Volkswagen Golf. The car was cold but it was still warmer than outside so Klaus didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he was gonna complain anyways, he was the one wearing leggings. It didn’t really matter for long because Dave quickly turned on the heating and started driving. 

”So I’m assuming you know where I’m going cause Diego never actually gave me his address.”

”Oh, yeah I can give you directions. Diego’s kind of a dumbass, must suck working with him.” He smiled when Dave let out a small laugh. 

”He has his moments, that’s for sure. But I think he’s okay most of the time, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have agreed to do this for him.”

”Sorry bout that by the way. Trust me, if this was my decision you would not be stuck with me right now, but unfortunately Diego thinks I can’t be trusted to my own devices.”

”You seem fine to me but I guess I wouldn’t know, huh?”

”Well thank you, Diego would disagree.”

”What happened with the door anyway?”

”Well, our dearest dumbass Diego decided it would be a good idea to lock me in a room from the outside while I was… detoxing. But, you see I’m quite claustrophobic, so after about 10 minutes I broke the door down and ran out. I’m gonna say it was a bad move on his part.”

”Jeez, he really is an idiot sometimes, isn’t he?”

”Alas, but he’s our idiot.”

Dave let out another laugh and Klaus quickly decided it was his favourite sound. 

“Hey, how did you get out of those cuffs? Keep a bobby-pin on you or something,” Dave smiled and Klaus smirked before holding up his right hand to show his lack of a pinky and ring finger. Dave’s face looked shocked and Klaus laughed. “Oh.” Dave blushed as Klaus kept laughing. 

“It’s okay. It does make it significantly easier to get outta cuffs, though. I always keep a standard key for them on me too, easier than a bobby-pin.”

Dave smiled again and Klaus knew he was gonna like him a lot. 

They grew quiet as Klaus directed them to Diego’s apartment complex but the silence was nice. Comfortable. Dave was a good guy from what Klaus (Ben) could tell. They came to a stop in the parking lot behind Diego’s building. Ben was talking from the backseat about how Dave passed his test on whether or not he was half-decent. Klaus mumbled for Ben to shut up as he got out of the car, hoping Dave didn’t catch him talking to thin air. Why did Klaus’ subconscious have to be so annoying? 

Realistically Klaus knew that Ben wasn’t actually there, that he didn’t have to respond because this Ben was a delusion. But it was just so real. A constant reminder that the real Ben, his Ben, was six feet underground in a different state. Or, what was left of his Ben. 

Him and Dave (and Ben) walked up to the door and Klaus pulled out his copy of keys that Diego had gotten him when he moved and unlocked the building. They walked up the stairs to the second floor and stopped in front of Apartment 2b. Klaus opened the door and walked in, Dave following behind. They were greeted with Diego’s boring grey furniture and white walls and Klaus sat down on his sofa. He didn’t understand why Diego was so opposed to colour, in his wardrobe or his apartment, but it was boring and depressing regardless of the reason. 

Dave took off his shoes at the door before sitting down beside Klaus on the couch. He pulled out his phone and looked up at Klaus. “Do you wanna order a pizza or something? I’m always hungry after work.”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Now that he mentioned it, Klaus was starving. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d eaten but he supposed that was telling enough. Usually food wasn’t a priority. 

“What kind do you like?”

“Oh I don’t care, I’ll eat anything. Whatever toppings are fine” That was true enough. Klaus did hate olives and mushrooms but who was he to be picky, it was free food. Plus he can just pick off stuff. 

Dave just nodded before calling the number for the closest pizza place. He ordered a works pizza and garlic bread. Of course he got the pizza with both mushrooms and olives but it was fine. He was paying, who was Klaus to complain anyways. 

Klaus excused himself to the restroom as he remembered the pills he had hidden in his shoe earlier. He was still a bit high but not nearly as much as he wanted to be if he was gonna have to act “normally” for the next three hours. Before he left he told Dave to “put on a movie or something”, remembering that Diego had Netflix. 

The bathroom was white tile and had a yellowish light at the top of the mirror in front of the sink. It was cleaner than one would expect from a guy like Diego but he was secretly a neat freak when there was no one around. Something he’d picked up from Mom. Klaus turned on the tap and splashed his face with water before looking at himself. He looked gaunt and sickly, his smeared black eyeliner caked around his eyes accentuated his dark blue bags indicating exactly how tired he was. His pupils were a bit blown but they usually were. His skin was dry and greasy at the same time and he wondered how he managed that. His hair was greasy too, a few patches where he was missing some really just added to the look. 

Klaus sighed and took off his shoe, taking out the small ziplock bag with two blue pills. Valium. It wouldn’t do much but it should take the edge off for at least a few hours. He swallowed them dry and looked to the corner at Ben. 

“What? It’s just Valium.”

“Nothing, I didn’t say a word.”

“No but you had that look.”

“What look?”

“The look you get before I do stupid shit.”

“You say that like doing drugs doesn’t count as stupid shit.”

“I mean it’s just Valium.”

“I’m not even gonna bother to tell you that still counts because you know it does.”

“Whatever. Can you like shut up for now, I don’t need Dave thinking I’m crazy cause I’m talking to thin air and I need to go back out before he gets suspicious or something.”

“You are crazy, you’re talking to your dead best friend.”

“Yeah but he doesn’t need to know that.”

“Okay whatever.” Ben mimes zipping his mouth and locking it before Klaus walks back out into Diego’s dreary living room. Dave smiles at him when he sits down. 

“Hey the pizza will be here in like 20 minutes. I put on a Marvel movie, it’s an old one but it’s pretty good.”

“Okay. I don’t think I’ve seen any Marvel movies. What year was it?”

“Iron Man would’ve been 2008 I think. I can’t believe you haven’t seen any Marvel movies before, they’re everywhere!” 2008. Of course he hadn’t seen it. He would’ve been gone. With Ben. That was the first year they were deployed. 11 years ago. It felt like yesterday. The day they met in basic was still imprinted in his mind like a tattoo. He wasn’t sure he would be able to forget anything about those years if he tried. 

Klaus was snapped back into reality by Dave’s soft voice saying his name. 

“…Klaus?”

“Hm?”

“Oh I just asked if you’re okay. You seemed kind of out of it.”

“Oh I’m fine. You can start the movie.” Dave pressed play and Klaus laid back, waiting for the Valium to take effect. He had spaced out again, still thinking of Ben, trying to ignore his figure lurking in the corner of the room, desperately trying to remind himself it wasn’t real, Ben was dead. It was hard to tell yourself someone is dead when they’re standing right in front of you but that was nothing new for Klaus. 

The movie went on in the background but as Klaus heard explosions from the TV, suddenly he was no longer sat on Diego’s living room couch. He was right back in the shit, his uniform heavy on his body, rifle in hand as the sweltering heat boiled around them. He always hated the heat of the desert but especially now. He wasn’t sure how he’d held onto his gun during the blast but that was hardly the most important thing on his mind 

“Ben! Ben, where are you!” A ringing in his right ear made his voice sound muffled and foreign to him but he continued calling out. Before the blast Ben was right beside him but now he was no where to be found. “Ben where are you! You fucking dumbass answer me!” His voice grew more frantic as the seconds passed. 

He heard someone calling his name. “Ben!” Ben is that you?” His mind slowly processed the voice as someone else’s though. That didn’t make sense, there was no one else around before the explosion, who’s saying his name? His brain tried to place the voice. Oh. Dave? But, how? He hasn’t met Dave yet. But… his head hurt as he was pulled back into reality with Dave’s voice. 

He looked up to find Dave crouching beside where he was sat on the floor. His expression showed concern and pity but not disgust, Klaus could at least be happy about that. He was definitely not happy about the fact that he just had a flashback in front of someone he met less than two hours ago because of a scene in Iron Man. 

He picked himself off of the floor and avoided Dave’s eyes as he turned away. “I think I’m gonna go to bed.” He walked away hoping he remained with a shred of dignity but he wasn’t confident. 

Dave recognized what just happened but that didn’t mean he understood any of it. One minute Klaus and him were watching a movie and the next minute Klaus was on the ground screaming for someone named Ben. He was competent enough to understand that Klaus must’ve had a panic attack of some kind triggered by the movie but what part? Who was Ben? Why didn’t he say anything before that? Why didn’t Diego warn him about this? This was not how he was expecting his Friday night to go but it was at the least much more interesting than watching TV alone in his apartment with his cat, Betty. 

He felt bad for Klaus. It must be embarrassing to freak out on someone you barely know, on top of how horrific whatever was happening in his head must’ve been. He didn’t blame Klaus for leaving to the spare room, he would’ve too. 

The doorbell rings and Dave buzzes the pizza guy up as he dials Diego’s number into his phone. Diego should be aware of what happened, plus Dave kinda wanted some info. It’s not like Diego told him much of what to expect anyways. 

The pizza guy knocked on the door and Dave went to grab the food and pay. After retreating with the box into the kitchen he pressed call on his phone. 

It rang twice before Diego picked up. 

“Hey Katz, did Klaus steal your wallet?” That would honestly be a less awkward call to make Dave thought. He hesitated before answering, trying to choose his words carefully. 

“Um, no. He didn’t.”

“Okay… what happened, is he okay?”

“I’m not sure. We were watching the movie and I think he started having a panic attack. He was yelling for someone named Ben?”

“Oh fuck. I’m coming back right now, lemme talk to Cap and I should be there in 15.”

“Okay. Well I got him snapped out of it and he’s in the spare room right now. He left as soon as he realized what happened.”

“Okay. Thanks for getting him out of it. It was a flashback by the way, not a panic attack. They can get pretty bad.”

“Oh.” Dave desperately wanted to ask what happened but he had enough common decency to keep his mouth shut. He wouldn’t ask about stuff like that, it wasn’t any of his business. And he liked Klaus, he was funny. He didn’t wanna be a dick to him and invade his privacy. 

“Yeah he was in the military, he’ll be okay though, this happens a lot. Make sure he doesn’t leave. I’ll see you soon.”

Dave hung up and sat down at the table he put the pizza on. It made sense that he would have gotten flashbacks from Iron Man, especially if he was a vet. Dave felt bad but there wasn’t anything he could do, he wished he knew before he put the movie on but at least Klaus was okay. He took a slice of pizza and waited for Diego. 

Diego was speeding as he drove to his apartment. He should’ve told Dave that Klaus had PTSD but it was too late for that now. In his defence it wasn’t like he thought it was gonna make an appearance in the three hours he had left of work. Apparently he was wrong. 

He wondered why Klaus didn’t say anything about the movie if he thought it might trigger something but knowing him he probably thought he could just deal with it if it did. Either that or he didn’t know the movie. It wasn’t like he was a movie buff or anything. If he had money it definitely wasn’t going towards watching rich people lie on a big TV. 

As he approached his building he hoped that Klaus hadn’t left. Sure, Dave could stop him from going out the front door but if Klaus really wanted to leave there was a big enough window in the spare room. It wouldn’t be the first time he climbed from that window either. 

He ran up to his apartment and unlocked the door. He went inside and saw Dave sitting at the table. 

“He went into the room, right?”

“Yep, like 20 minutes ago now.”

“Okay, I’m gonna deal with him so you can go. Thanks for doing this, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s all good, I hope he’s okay. See you at work.” Dave got up and left as Diego rushed into the spare room. Klaus was laying on his side on the bed, facing the wall. He was muttering something but Diego couldn’t make out what it was. 

He sat down on the edge of the bed and spoke softly. “Klaus? You okay?”

“Diego? Is it already 8?”

“No, I got off early.”

“Fuck. Dave called you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, you fucking freaked out in front of him, of course he called me.”

“I’m fine Diego, it wasn’t even that bad.”

“Look me in the eyes and say that.” 

Klaus turned over and looked at Diego. “Fuck off, Di. I didn’t ask to have a fucking babysitter so don’t be mad at me when I scare him off.”

“You didn’t scare him off Klaus! He was worried about you, and so am I! This is serious, you can’t just keep running off and getting high every time something shitty happens.”

“Watch me.” Diego scoffed. 

“I’m honestly surprised you’re still here, Klaus. Usually you would’ve run away by now.”

“Do you want me to?”

“No of course not. I want you to stay here, and get clean, and stop selling yourself. I want you to stop killing yourself. I miss you, Klaus.”

“Well I’m right fucking here, Di.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Just go Diego, I’m tired.”

“Okay. Just promise me you’ll be here tomorrow at least.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight Klaus.”

“Night Di.”

Diego stood up and walked out. Why couldn’t Klaus see he wasn’t just hurting himself? Diego didn’t want to watch him slowly kill himself, he just couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t at least try to help his brother. When had it all gotten so fucked up? 

Klaus cried as he fell asleep. He missed himself too. 

-End Of Chapter One-

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and directly affect how quickly i write updates lol :))


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